Verizon trials 5G in 11 US cities

Verizon recently announced that it will begin trialing 5G networks in 11 cities in the US in the first half of 2017, Reuters reports.

IoT providers and their customers have been planning for the onset of 5G for some time — namely because it offers faster data speeds and lower latency. And now that 5G is close enough to arriving, network providers like Verizon are vying for an early-mover advantage, which would position them well to contribute to the creation of a universal global standard for 5G.

It's widely recognized that a standard is needed for 5G, and Verizon is aiming to get this standard crafted to include its preferred items. Verizon, by aggressively moving to trial 5G in a number of locations, is likely trying to push groups such as the International Telecommunications Union to craft this standard earlier than it would have otherwise, while also betting that the group will follow the telco's lead in crafting the standard thanks to its early-mover status.

5G's chief benefit to the IoT is its ability to handle larger amounts of data and reduce network latency. Reuters notes that 5G is expected to provide speeds around 10-100 times that of 4G LTE, the current cellular network standard for IoT devices. Here's how this ability to handle more data will impact the IoT:

It will allow for less networking hardware to handle the current device load, cutting costs and leading to fewer devices. Greater data transmission capabilities from 5G means that providers will be able to employ fewer pieces of networking hardware to cover the same area. This would allow these IoT providers to cut down on costs associated with deploying more hardware in their solutions.

It may also make more sense to compute certain functions in the cloud rather than at the edge. As BI Intelligence outlined last year, edge computing, where data is processed and analyzed at a local device rather than in the cloud, is becoming a larger phenomenon within the IoT. But if providers move to connect their devices with 5G, it would then be easier to transmit data to the cloud than it is currently with 4G LTE. This means that certain providers could move specific data analytics and computing functions to the cloud rather than keeping them at the edge.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is disrupting businesses, governments, and consumers and transforming how they interact with the world. Companies are going to spend almost $5 trillion on the IoT in the next five years — and the proliferation of connected devices and massive increase in data has started an analytical revolution.

To gain insight into this emerging trend, BI Intelligence conducted an exclusive Global IoT Executive Survey on the impact of the IoT on companies around the world. The study included over 500 respondents from a wide array of industries, including manufacturing, technology, and finance, with significant numbers of C-suite and director-level respondents.

Peter Newman, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has conducted an exclusive study with in-depth research into the field and created a detailed report on the IoT that describes the components that make up IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market in terms of device installations and investment through 2021. And we examine the importance of IoT providers, the challenges they face, and what they do with the data they collect. Finally, we take a look at the opportunities, challenges, and barriers related to mass adoption of IoT devices among consumers, governments, and enterprises.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

We project that there will be a total of 22.5 billion IoT devices in 2021, up from 6.6 billion in 2016.

We forecast there will be $4.8 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2016 and 2021.

It highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers for adoption; major challenges and pain points; stages of adoption, deployment, and maturity of IoT implementations; investment in and utilization of devices, platforms, and services; the decision-making process; and forward- looking plans.

In full, the report:

Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem

Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward and highlights areas of interest in the coming years

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